It boggled my mind when Luke Bronin tapped Hartford's Fire Chief Reginald Freeman to also fill in as Hartford's DPW Director to fill a vacancy almost two years ago.
Freeman came in to restore order to a troubled Hartford Fire Department that had been rocked by scandals, bad behavior and negative publicity. By most accounts I think he has held up his end of the bargain.
It made no sense to me that Mayor Bronin would then dilute Freeman's efforts by asking him to run a Department that probably had more than enough of its own problems at DPW. And even though Freeman was doing double the work to bail out his boss, Reggie\s paycheck apparently didn't reflect his double duty.
It is also confusing as to why we pay high priced salaries for "Deputy Directors" if those Deputies can't be called upon to run the Department short term when needed. Or are the Deputy slots just a way of hiding away friends you want to reward with a City paycheck and great benefits?
There is no way a position such as the Director of Public Works should be left open for two years.
There is also no reason that the Hartford Fire Chief should be expected to fill in for both slots for two years or longer.
Reggie Freeman has shown that he is more than capable to manage multiple, demanding tasks, and he has been a shining star for the people of Hartford. Maybe shining a little too bright for an Administration that seems to have been having trouble getting any light out from under its own self imposed bushel basket.
Reggie Freeman needs to return to his FULL TIME role as Hartford's Fire Chief and continue to do what he is best at and Luke Bronin needs to concentrate on an finally building Administration that is not constantly losing people. Our current Mayor seems to be unable to find and keep qualified people.
Bronin's turnover at Hartford City Hall would probably rival that of the Trump White House.
It would be nice to have Hartford people representing us in Constitutional Offices at the State level.
But we can't just elect people because of where they live or who they know.
Shawn Wooden's run for Treasurer is the perfect example.
Wooden may be able to pull off a con job with slick television ads, but all any voter has to do is look back on the "fine" job he did of nearly bankrupting the City of Hartford during his tenure as Council President. Will Shawn Wooden use the same "due diligence" that he used when approving the Dillon Stadium deal and the Dunkin Donuts Park financing deal? If he does, get the Grand Jury room ready because it will be a revolving door.
Wooden couldn't even recognize a phony Barclay's letter of credit from a poorly drafted fax and now voters are expected to give him control of the State of Connecticut's finances? City resident's did a better job of digging into and exposing the con job than Wooden did.
Se what people are saying in the ad below from his challenger.
Hartford Police Officer James Guzie was arrested Wednesday by East Windsor Police and charged with Disorderly Conduct after a Domestic disagreement in East Windsor..
Guzie was processed and released from Police Custody on a $1500.00 Non Surety Bond according to Judicial records.
Officer Guzie's next court date is Scheduled for August 22, 2018. Guzie is being represented by Hartford Attorney Patrick Tomasiewicz.
Guzie has been suspended as a Hartford Police Officer pending the disposition of this case.
Former Hartford Schools Executive Director of Financial Management Joanna Laiscell ,left, and Hartford Superintendent of Schools Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, right.
The Hartford Schools Executive Director of Financial Management, Joanna Laiscell was suspended for "unspecified" reasons on March 21, 2018. Now, according to a termination letter obtained through an FOI request by "We the People", Laiscell has been terminated amid allegations of financial and insurance fraud.
The allegations of fraud are detailed in the letter below from Hartford Superintendent of Schools Leslie Torres-Rodriguez sent to Laiscell on July 12th informing Laiscell of her termination.
The letter also claims that Laiscell altered an e-mail regarding an audit of the Board's Health care plan that detailed that "an estimated 320 dependents may be removed from the plan as a result of the audit". According to the Superintendent's letter, Laiscell removed that sentence before forwarding the e-mail on to the Superintendent.
It is unclear why Laiscell would have removed that sentence from the e-mail. It is also unclear if those "320 dependents" were on the insurance plan as a result of poor record keeping and lack of over sight or as a result of fraud. Either way, it is a substantial amount of money to potentially cover 320 people for Health Insurance they were not entitled to.
Laiscell did not return calls for comment.
It is also unclear at this time if this matter is being investigated by the Hartford Police for any criminal prosecution It also unclear what efforts the Hartford Schools intend to make to recover the dollar amount of the alleged fraud.
Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim was our guest on "We the People" Monday for an hour long discussion about his primary run for Governor of Connecticut.
Nothing was off limits and Mayor Ganim talked candidly about being a convicted felon, his experiences as Mayor of Bridgeport, his ideas for Connecticut as well as his thoughts on Tolls, the Income tax and the opioid crisis. It was an interesting hour.
A regular reader that called me last night told me I wasn't posting enough. So maybe I am trying to make up for lost time, but I am finding a new found love for my computer keyboard today. It is not that the City of Hartford and its politics don't give me enough content, but it takes time.
Speaking of those politics, I am always aggravated by people that will blindly support political candidates for unknown reasons. Most of those reasons have nothing to do with how they will serve if they eventually do get elected or even their qualifications for the job. I think it all too often has to do with the candidates hair style or some other bizarre qualifier .
I am amused by the political advertisements that we are bombarded with as well. I like the Ned Lamont ads with Ned as the common man sitting at the counter in the neighborhood Diner. I have never met Ned Lamont, but something tells me he is probably not the type to be sitting on a diner stool, sipping his coffee with the commoners in the morning. I find the "Ned Drive" in his economy car even more interesting.
Great marketing by who ever came up with the idea, but is it really believable. Ned's comment that he won't take a State vehicle makes me think Lamont doesn't understand the nature of the Governor's job. I don't think any of our Governor's in recent history have taken the job to save on gas money I don't purport to be an expert on the Governor or his duties. I don't even think the size of the State Police Security detail is a necessity.
I do know though that much of the Governor's time is spent on the road, crisscrossing the State at all hours of the day and night, and a large amount of the Governor's time is spent conducting business and returning calls from the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by a State Trooper. Is Lamont saying he won't travel in the course of running the State or is he going to be able to focus on the states business without being a "distracted driver" operating his own economy car?
Little things, and maybe I pay too much attention to details, but we need to pay attention to what they promise us.
Besides, I was flattered one night when a member of the Governor's staff informed me that the Governor and Mrs. Malloy had been reading "We the People" blog in the back seat of the Governor's SUV on the way back to Hartford from an event at the Aqua Turf in Southington.
Another campaign ad that is aggravating me is from Nancy Glassman. Now I know President Trump is fair game and every Democrat is going to make President Trump a campaign issue, but please be factual. Glassman states in one of her ads, and I am paraphrasing, that her mother raised her while living on Social Security. and Glassman states that she will never allow President Trump to cut Social Security.
News flash Ms. Glassman, you are or would be only one member of Congress, and a very junior member at that, with very little clout. You can do nothing on your own and to promise that you will is less than truthful. Maybe it would be a little more truthful to have said "if I were lucky enough to get your vote and get elected to Congress, I would do everything I can to protect Seniors and their Social Security benefits"
And this next one is almost a "ditto" of the previous. William Tong, a candidate for Connecticut Attorney General is also a shark that can smell Trump blood in the sea of Democrats we call Connecticut. Tong is already promising to tie up our Court systems with the lawsuits he is prepared to file challenging every Trump activity he can mention in a sixty second commercial to strike fear into voters.
I would have more respect for Attorney Tong if maybe he would have mentioned that he would file suits to force decent or appropriate health coverage and benefits for Veteran's who have served our Country. Or to force proper healthcare and housing for Seniors who have been lived here all their lives and are now being left by the roadside, many of them unable to even obtain necessary medications to live. But I guess it might be difficult to weave that and the name Trump into a sixty second sound bite.
As we fall for these political ads, keep in mind "Caveat emptor". let the buyer beware.
THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS BLOG ARE STRICTLY THAT, MY OPINIONS.After getting fed up with the lack of openness in Hartford City Hall, I decided to begin a program on Hartford Public Access Television called "WE THE PEOPLE". Through tips received we have been able to expose numerous issues that the Perez Administration would prefer to keep quiet.
Any information received is kept in strict confidence, feel free to e-mail me at krbrookman@earthlink.net or call me at 860-883-2297 with any information.